


Legacy of Rhaine

by SnippetsRUs



Category: Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Forgotten Realms, Neverwinter Nights 2
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Fix-It, Gen, Gift Fic, Inspired by Fanfiction, Mild canon divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnippetsRUs/pseuds/SnippetsRUs
Summary: The King of Shadows has fallen, and with him his fortress. Much pain still lingers, and with the disappearance of Knight-Captain Rhaine, more trouble may still follow. How do the forces of Neverwinter, let alone Rhaine's companions, deal with the loss? Read and find out.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 14
Collections: AU Realms





	Legacy of Rhaine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Auriana Valoria (AuriV1)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuriV1/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Rhaine's Tale](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19823644) by [Auriana Valoria (AuriV1)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuriV1/pseuds/Auriana%20Valoria). 



> This was inspired by AurianaValoria's amazing story about her _Kalach-Cha_ , Rhaine Alcinea, half-elven Doomguide of Kelemvor. Rhaine is a character that I absolutely adore, and I was happy to create this little piece for Auri. Hopefully it serves as a nice bit of transition into _Mask of the Betrayer_.

Even as the sun shone brightly over the vale of Merdelain, the eastern part of the Mere was a pitiful sight. Now collapsed, the ancient Illefarn fortress was little more than a pile of rubble.

Khelgar Ironfist groaned as he woke.

“Shhhh, don't move!” The voice belonged to Neeshka, the female tiefling and thief from Neverwinter.

Turning his gaze in the direction of the voice, the dwarf vaguely remembered getting between her and a particularly large boulder. “Neeshka...” he began, but found his voice was coarse. Blinking, the world became focused once more, and he saw deep-seated worry in the part-devil's red-brown eyes.

“It's alright,” she said, a half-hearted smile gracing her lips. “I'm going to get some help. Just don't try to move.” Khelgar wasn't certain, but it sounded like she sniffled a bit. He looked closer and saw her eyes were wet.

“Neeshka, what happened?” He tried to turn his head, but found it was locked in place by intense pain. Worry began to bubble up inside him.

“I'll get help,” the tiefling promised, though her voice was beginning to break. “I saw Elanee survive, and Zhjaeve might come back from Limbo. They can help.” She sniffled again and nodded. “I'll be right back.” Then she left, a nimble jump all the dwarf could see of her before she disappeared from his limited range of vision altogether.

The area was deathly quiet. Not even the sound of birds singing or the wind blowing through trees. A strong indicator of the King of Shadows' deadly influence upon the land. Khelgar tried moving his left arm, but found it was stuck as well. Same with his legs. The only thing he could do was move his right arm, and not without suffering excruciating pain in the process. It seemed he'd paid a hefty price for saving a friend's life.

“Elanee?!” Neeshka's voice rang out, loud and clear, above the ruins. “Elanee! If you're alive, give me a sign! Please! It's Khelgar, he needs your help!” Another groan sounded, though the voice was male. “Casavir! Thank Tymora, please tell me you have healing powers left!”

“Barely any for myself,” the human paladin replied and coughed. His breathing sounded laboured, even. Judging from how he could hear them both, Khelgar reasoned they weren't far away.

“Well...” the thief began, “heal yourself up then. I need your help with Khelgar. Muscle will work too.”

“Ordinarily I would be happy to help a friend, Neeshka,” he began, “but I can't promise anything. I'm badly hurt as well, and it might be my spell won't be enough.”

“Don't you have some potions?”

“You mean you haven't scoured my pockets already?” The surprise in Casavir's tone echoed how Khelgar felt on the matter. Neeshka had to have been severely shaken up if she'd forgotten to check the others for loot.

Even more surprisingly, she snapped. “Khelgar's _life_ is on the line, alright? Do you have any healing potions or not?”

“Only one,” the paladin confessed, “and it's not the most powerful.”

“It'll do,” she remarked and then came some rummaging sounds.

“Neeshka, I'm well enough to pick it out myse-” Casavir was cut short, gulping sounds following shortly after.

“Less talk, more drink,” the tiefling replied, her tone short and snippy. “Once you're better, see about getting up while I find Elanee.”

Neeshka had become quite independent, if not outright reliable, in comparison to when they'd first met. Khelgar felt a sense of pride, almost a paternal one, rise up in his chest. Rhaine had done most of the work, but they had both seen the good woman beneath the thief's rough exterior. When the tiefling had chosen to stand by them in the end, he'd felt a similar sensation of joy – all the while ready to crack Garius' skull for what he'd done to her.

His thoughts were interrupted by the loud noises of boulders falling, though none came at him, fortunately. The rolling and crashing sounds continued for a bit, but then finally abated.

“By Kossuth, I didn't think I could hold out in there another second!” It was Qara's voice, the words coming after a deep inhale. “Hey, Sand, when will that spell of yours wear off- _oh_.”

“Elanee!” Neeshka cut in. “Khelgar and Casavir both need your help! Have you got any healing spells left?”

“I do,” the druidess replied, “though I suspect Sand needs a few as well.”

“Right,” the tiefling replied, “and what about potions? I'm all out, and so is Casavir. I can't get to Khelgar's pockets the way he is now, though his potion bottles are probably smashed.”

“I have a very weak one only, but Khelgar is welcome to it,” the wood elf replied. “I'll check with Sand if he has any more.”

In response, the moon elven wizard groaned. “Here I thought... a combination of... _iron body_ ,” he groaned again, “and _Tenser's transformation_... would do the trick.” He grunted and sighed, his breath coming out in rags.

“It did,” Qara shot back, though her tone wasn't unfriendly. “You're still alive, and so is Elanee and... me.”

Khelgar expected the usual, sarcastic response from the mage, but he was strangely quiet. Chanting in a female voice followed, as did the voice of Casavir. Neeshka returned to the dwarf's side, though she yelled at the paladin to follow.

The holy warrior made a straining noise, but grunted and sighed. “I'm sorry, Neeshka, I don't think I can be of much help to you.”

“If what you need is to remove those boulders from Khelgar, then I can do it,” the sorceress piped in. A moment's silence followed, the dwarf holding his breath as he waited to see if Rhaine's inspired cameraderie would be extended to Qara, their resident misfit. He was also surprised by her sudden display of generosity. Not that the redhaired human girl was incapable of such things, of course, but they were rare, and usually on a whim.

“It's true,” the wizard added, no more groaning or struggling to speak. It seemed Elanee had patched him up nicely. “I'm out of spells, but Qara should still have some telekinetic magic left.”

The fact that _Sand_ had been the one to support the idea shocked the dwarf to his very core. Those two had bickered from the beginning. It seemed much had changed between them after they faced off against Garius and the King of Shadows.

“Yes, please,” Neeshka said, neither too late nor too soon.

Now Khelgar found himself with another concern – that Qara would lose control and that the boulders would come crashing back down upon him. He waited, even as the young woman's booted feet stepped up next to him.

“Alright,” Qara said. “Stand back, demon girl, preferably over by Sand and Elanee.”

The thief ran as though she had her infernal grandfather on her tail.

Her chant began and a rumbling sound came as one boulder fell away. Qara followed through with a second, and then a third spellcasting, tossing aside giant rocks as though they were pebbles. Once done, she stepped back, and Khelgar was afforded a view of the big, fat grin on her face.

“Now, if only I knew the right spell to turn that into a mocking statue of Garius,” Sand remarked dryly as he sidled up beside her.

Qara let out a disgusted noise. “I'd rather not be reminded.”

The elf shot her a surprised look, as if he hadn't quite noticed her before. “True. As personally gratifying as I would find it, he doesn't deserve to be remembered, even as a parody. Perhaps a statue of Rhaine instead?”

“Speaking of,” Casavir cut in, “where is she?”

“Some gargoyles carried her off,” Qara remarked, “though that was all I saw before we were trapped by boulders.”

Sand nodded. “Ammon Jerro disappeared too, this much I managed to witness, despite how I didn't have any eyes at the time.”

Behind him, Neeshka shot the elf an odd look.

Elanee came to kneel beside the dwarf. “I'll do what I can for you, Khelgar, and then I will go look for help, and possibly a safer place for us all to rest.”

“I appreciate all the help,” he replied, though he looked to Qara first when he spoke next, “thank you.”

In response, the sorceress shuffled from one foot to the next, an uncomfortable look on her face. After some inner debating, she eventually managed to raise her nose to its usual position and thus, resume her normal, haughty stance. “Yeah well... those rocks were _begging_ to be thrown around.”

Khelgar wasn't done with the praise. Considering her past at the Academy, she'd gained precious little of it. Besides, she'd earned it after standing with the rest of them against the King of Shadows. “You've corrected my impression of mages in many ways... particularly when it comes to insults.”

At that, the sorceress actually grinned. “Well, keep up your own practice and maybe you'll be half as good as me one day.”

Despite the pain, even as the druid healed him, Khelgar let out a short laugh. Sand rolled his eyes. Even so, he didn't look nearly as unhappy as he usually did around Qara. The dwarf wondered if this good mood between them would continue, or if they'd revert back to their old animosity once their immediate concern for survival was over.

Once Elanee was done, she had him drink her last healing potion. Sand had two left, one of which went to Khelgar, and the other to Casavir. It was disconcerting that they had only two healers left out of four, and so few other tools for healing left. If any. The dwarf wouldn't be surprised if Qara had some elixirs on her person, but considering the scarcity of their resources, he wasn't about to ask her to share them.

He was pleased to find he could move his head again, and his breathing had improved significantly.

“Has anyone seen Grobnar?” Elanee asked. “Or his construct, for that matter?”

A long silence followed.

“Uh...” Neeshka began, and scratched the back of her head, “I think Khelgar is lying next to them.”

The dwarf turned and found a small, pale hand sticking out from underneath a pile of rubble, having gone limp at that. “By Tyr's right buttock!” He tried to move, but found he still had quite a lot of pain in his right side. Elanee, Neeshka and the mages helped carry him over to where Casavir lay. Then they set to work clearing the rubble. They stopped at some point, Qara looking away in disgust, Sand frowning and Elanee covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes closing. Neeshka's face took on a defeated look.

It wasn't hard to guess that the gnome was dead. That also meant the golem had gone back to being inert. While Khelgar hadn't been overly fond of the former, the bard's death meant that his creation wouldn't be around for added protection. Especially since he hadn't passed along the command words to anyone else.

Their trek back to the keep would be a long one.

“Zhjaeve hasn't come back yet,” Neeshka remarked. “She should. Limbo is more dangerous than the Prime, especially for someone as low on spells as she is.”

“I don't think we can rely on her beyond what she's already done,” Casavir cut in. “At best, she's back with her people, where she's resting and recuperating. The best we can do is find a safe spot to do the same. It's especially vital for the spellcasters.”

Neeshka looked from the mages to the healers and then to Khelgar. “Right. That leaves...” she paused and her eyes widened as she realised the full impact of the paladin's words. “ _Hey_ , you're leaving _me_ with guard duty for all of you??? In a dangerous swamp full of creatures ready to eat us?”

Elanee shook her head. “It will take considerable time before any animals or people can return to the Mere. First the plant life has to restore itself. While we're low on potions, I can make more tomorrow, and we should have enough rations to last us through the return journey.”

“And I can't think of anyone better suited to secure the perimeter than you,” the paladin supplied. “Especially if Bishop is still around.”

An uncomfortable look came to Neeshka's face. “I'm going to check the rubble just to make sure he's not.” Then she left before anyone could throw in their opinions.

“So,” Qara remarked, her usual snarky tone having returned, “after defeating Shadow Reavers, hordes of undead _and_ the King of Shadows, we now get to take up residence at the Ancient Rubble Inn. What a _treat_!”

“Yes,” Sand supplied sarcastically, “and such a _view_ from here, too! Dead swamplands as far as the eye can see!”

Khelgar wondered if both mages had suffered severe blows to the head.

“It will still be many hours before darkness reaches us,” Elanee remarked and got up on her feet. “I will search for water and firewood, as well as any other resources we can make use of.”

“Thank you, Elanee,” Casavir cut in, causing the wood elf to pause and nod.

“Be safe, all of you,” the druid said simply and left, her trusty badger companion by her side as she went.

Meanwhile, Sand took a seat on a nearby boulder while Qara remained standing. Judging from the look on her face, it seemed she was keeping guard. Khelgar preferred a ranger, or even a thief like Neeshka, on such a task, but considering their circumstances, this was probably the best they could hope for.

The hours passed. Just as Elanee had surmised, life didn't immediately return to the Mere. Neeshka came back to report that she'd indeed found Bishop – quite dead, at that – while Elanee arrived with both the promised water as well as firewood. She'd been unable to locate any healing herbs or leaves, and they'd have to eat hardtack for dinner. With help from the tiefling, however, she managed to collect enough grass to create beds for everyone. She promptly ignored the unhappy looks on Sand and Qara's faces.

Not exactly the grand feasts back at the keep. Fortunately, the druid had the ingredients she needed for the potions. She just needed to replenish her spells first.

Night came to a crackling bonfire and bedrolls rolled out on top of the grass piles. Both Khelgar and Casavir received help in lying down, the latter only after they got him out of his full plate armour. The wood elf spent time in prayer around sundown, Sand having gone through his spellbooks in preparation for the next morning. Neeshka spent some hours putting up traps in the surrounding area, just to make sure no-one could sneak up on them.

Come morning, everyone was better rested. Qara spent time in meditation, and Casavir prayed to Tyr for spells. He managed to fully heal himself on his own, and Khelgar did the same with his self-healing monk ability. Elanee still needed to help him out, but once done, the dwarf was up and about as though back to his old self.

It still took a while for Elanee to make the potions she promised, and even then the total amount was limited. She handed them out to each in turn, though Qara declined, proving that she indeed possessed some of her own. Once breakfast was consumed, the group then set out on the long journey back to Crossroad Keep.

* * *

Still lost in a state of disbelief, Nevalle of the Neverwinter Nine thought back to the rare moments he'd spent around their misplaced Harborman heroine. As Sand had rightly remarked upon, Rhaine had affected the lives of everyone around her. The bodyguard had even heard kind words from the moon elven wizard, which was rare.

Despite not knowing her very well, apart from their shared duties, he was grieving her loss. Grieving and feeling angry that he hadn't done more to help her. He'd stumbled into her keep, near death, with Lord Nasher behind him. She'd spent most of the night patching him up, saving his life and then falling asleep on top of him. In that moment of peaceful slumber she'd looked beautiful in an eerie way, as though her elven heritage had come out more and lent her that ethereal look that full-blooded elves had.

There was no denying that his heart had skipped a beat, and in a moment of sheer selfishness, he'd chosen not to wake her. Her later yelling at him had been worth it.

Now, she was most likely dead.

If the pain in his heart and red, puffy eyes were anything to go by, it seemed he hadn't remained unaffected by her either.

It had been three days since the collapse. Kana had been hesitant in sending out a search party, beyond checking the borders of the Mere for the King of Shadows' life-draining ring. Nevalle had been so lost in grief and anger, not only at the loss of Rhaine, but that of a champion of Neverwinter and a fellow member of the Nine. On top of that came a stubborn hope that refused to die, which caused him to despair as it did battle with his reason. She couldn't possibly be alive, yet a part of him wanted her to be all the same.

Lord Nasher called, however, and as his guard, he could only answer the summons.

He found the ruler of Neverwinter by the stables. Nasher was dressed in his armour from the battle with the King of Shadows, and he stood next to one of the stable's finer breeds. Said horse was all saddled up and, judging from the look on his lord's face, it seemed it was time for them to part ways with the keep.

Nevalle's stomach dropped, but he knew it was for the best. They had duties elsewhere, both of them. The keep would send word of what they found. He had to trust in the capabilities of their forces. Rhaine's greycloaks were particularly competent, and Kana had only the finest scouts under her command.

“I wish you a safe journey home, Lord Nasher.” Kana stepped up beside Nevalle, offering him a deferential nod in so doing. “Sir Nevalle, I've had the stablehands prepare a horse for you as well. I trust you have everything you need?”

Considering how he was dressed in his own, repaired armour, and had all his weapons by his side, he was as ready as could be. “All except food for the road.”

“I've made arrangements for you both,” she replied, “on orders from My Lord.”

“You've done much for this keep in the Knight-Captain's absence, lieutenant,” Nasher replied and turned to face her in full. “On behalf of Neverwinter, I thank you for your service.”

A rare smile made its way to Nevalle's face. “As do I.”

Kana's dark eyes grew wet, but she managed to maintain her composure. “Have a safe journey, both of you. My Lord.” She bowed to Nasher, who nodded in response. “Sir Nevalle.” This bow wasn't as low, as was custom. Nevalle offered a curt nod.

Despite the amiable parting, he felt hollow as he and a contingent of greycloaks rode out with Lord Nasher. Rhaine's death aside, they'd also lost Callum and Melia, as well as numerous soldiers. Good men and women had died, and while they'd come out victorious, it would take a lot of work and time for Neverwinter to properly rebuild. He still grieved his fellow Nine especially.

Not to mention how lifeless the Mere looked.

While the lizardfolk had already gone back, the dwarves of Clan Ironfist remained, patiently awaiting news about Khelgar. Nevalle looked back to see some of the stout folk even speaking to Master Veedle about ways to further improve the fortifications, something the Cormyrian didn't seem to appreciate one bit.

They had just exited through the main gate when shouts came from one of the guards up on the outer wall. “Lieutenant Kana! Lieutenant! Come look, quickly!”

Nasher halted his entourage as well, Nevalle riding up beside him. He raised his visor to make sure he saw what he thought he saw. Five figures walked in the distance, and as they grew nearer, their forms became more distinct.

“By all the gods!” Nasher exclaimed, relief heavy in his voice.

Nevalle spotted the telltale – _tail_ – of Rhaine's tiefling companion, the short but stocky build of Khelgar Ironfist, the tall and broad-shouldered form of Casavir, and the robed figures of Qara and Sand.

Never in his life did he think he'd be so happy to see the moon elven wizard as he was in that moment.

Yet... where was Rhaine?

“Welcome back, companions of Rhaine!” Nasher exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. “It's good to see the faces of the living after so much death!”

“Even better to _be_ alive, Lord Nasher,” Sand replied, and with more sincerity than Nevalle had come to expect from him.

“Yet there's so few of you left,” the knight and bodyguard remarked, his eyes going from one companion to the next. “What happened to the others?”

A long sigh escaped Sand's lips, Khelgar looked away and Neeshka's eyes grew wet. Casavir looked worse than Nevalle had felt these past three days. In the end, Qara was the one to speak up. “A lot.” Her voice carried a note of weariness to it, lacking even its usually immature tone.

“Then let us return to the keep together,” Nasher suggested. “Once you're all rested and have eaten better food than trail rations, you can tell us everything.”

Wordlessly, the quintet followed the Lord of Neverwinter and his loyal soldiers to Crossroad Keep.

* * *

In the Vale of Merdelain, a lone druidess looked on with mild amusement as a group of Luskan scouts got lost scouring the wilderness for survivors of the battle. All the while her thoughts went to the Harborman who had come to be one of her closest friends. That evening, she let up a prayer to Silvanus, to keep Rhaine safe and guide her through the wild places of the world.

She didn't know why, but she had a feeling the Doomguide would need it.


End file.
